Political Ideologies and Support for Censorship: Is It a Question of Whose Ox Is Being Gored?

Abstract

Two studies are described. one of 381 university students and the other a statewide survey of 295 adults, both of which examine the relationship between attitudinal support for censorship and political ideologies. Thc results of these studies are interpreted as challenging the view of Suedfeld, Steel, and Schmidt ( I 994) that support for censorship is a function o f both the works in question and the political ideologies ofthe respondents. In both studies we find that s~ipport for censorship is somewhat consistent across messages and images of differing political content. and that support for censorship is generally greater among those with conservative political attitudes, regardless of the content of the works in question. A model ofpglitical attitudes (Maddox & Lilie. 1986) that conceptualizes American political ideologies as consisting of two relatively independent dimensions, rather than a single left-right dimension. is proposed as a more effective means of conceptualizing this issue. Suedfeld, Steel, and Schmidt (1994) argued that attitudinal support for censorship is found in political liberals as well as conservatives. They suggested that political liberals are likely to support the censorship ofpolitically incorrect (i.e., racist, sexist, and homophobic) messages and violent images, just as political conservatives tend to support the censorship of sexually explicit materials (pornography) or works that offend their religious faith or conservative values. Suedfeld et al. (1994) were responding to Hense and Wright (1992), who introduced the Attitudes Toward Censorship Questionnaire (ATCQ) and found that scores on the ATCQ were correlated with authoritarianism, radicalismconservatism, traditional family ideology, and frequency of church attendance. These findings suggested to Hense and Wright that support for censorship was greater among persons with politically conservative attitudes. Suedfeld et a].

Political Intolerance, Right and Left

“…Using an experimental approach, Lindner and Nosek (2009) found that conservatism predicted intolerance of anti‐American speech, but liberalism did not predict intolerance of anti‐Arab speech. Their conclusion, based on their evidence that conservatism is more strongly related to political intolerance, is consistent with the correlational evidence from the extant literature they reviewed (Altemeyer, 1996; Davis & Silver, 2004; Fisher et al., 1999; Sniderman et al., 1989). We adopted Lindner and Nosek's approach of experimentally manipulating the stated position of political targets, but contrary to their findings, our study offers clear evidence that both political liberalism and conservatism predict intolerance of politically opposing targets and that such intolerance is explained by perceived threat from these targets.…”

“…In their article, they reviewed the literature on the relationship between conservatism and political tolerance—that is, the extent to which people extend civil liberties and rights to groups or individuals with whom they disagree (Marcus, Sullivan, Theiss‐Morse, & Wood, 1995; Sullivan, Marcus, Feldman, & Piereson, 1981). While Lindner and Nosek cited some political commentators who argue that political censorship occurs on both the right and left (Hentoff, 1992; Will, 2002), the empirical evidence reviewed implicates political conservatism as a stronger predictor of political intolerance (Altemeyer, 1996; Davis & Silver, 2004; Fisher et al., 1999; Sniderman, Tetlock, Glaser, Green, & Hout, 1989). To address this issue experimentally, Lindner and Nosek (2009) manipulated the content of an individual's speech act.…”

Alienable Speech: Ideological Variations in the Application of Free‐Speech Principles

“…Other research also supports this claim. For example, political conservatism predicts greater willingness to censor both politically correct and incorrect content (Altemeyer, 1996; Fisher et al., 1999). Recent research on post‐9/11 political differences in Americans' support for civil liberties over security found that liberals were less willing to trade speech tolerance for increased security (Davis & Silver, 2004).…”

“…For instance, Altemeyer (1996) found that among both college students and legislators, “even when the issues were raised in the context of leftist censoring, rightists wanted censorship more than anyone else” (pp. 230–233; see also Fisher et al., 1999).…”

“…That is, does having a stronger liberal orientation predict decreased tolerance of right‐wing speech acts compared to left‐wing speech acts and vice versa. At the same time, there may be liberal‐conservative differences in willingness to tolerate or censor disliked speech (Altemeyer, 1996, and Fisher et al., 1999, vs. Will, 2002). That is, liberals may be more likely than conservatives to protect any speech, regardless of its content.…”